S2k_Dude
Senior Member
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Since Honda dealerships don't offer test drives of the Type R, and because I don't purchase a car before driving it, I worked in a test drive while visiting my family on my Christmas holiday.
As I posted before, there has been a 2017 CBP Type R at Carmax for a few weeks now. The car has 1,100 miles and Carmax has priced it at $37,999. I was a little surprised that CarMax, a dealership that used to offer cars at very reasonable prices, is asking that much over new MSRP for a used car. The original pictures online didn't look perfect but it didn't matter, I just wanted a test drive of a car that everyone has raved so much about.
Caveats:
I know a test drive only gives you a general idea of what owning the car will be like. I mean, a 10 mile loop and only 20 min behind the wheel doesn't let a person really get to know a car. However, it's better than nothing at all. I'm not one of those people who is willing to go through the whole (annoying) dealership experience, have them run my credi,t and sign paperwork, just to be disappointed with the vehicle. Luckily CarMax has one and I was able to call a few days in advance, and make and appointment for a test drive.
First impressions:
This particular Type R at CarMax looks like it has already lived a short but hard life. The car was filthy inside and out, the interior was full of dust and dirt, the exterior looked like the car hadn't been washed in months, body gaps full of dirt and leaves. So, that didn't help with the first impression. Neither did the carpet under the rear hatch looking like someone tried to take an orbital sander to it, one of the wheels had minor curb rash, and the front spoiler had been damaged in two places. Also, some of the items were missing from the fix-a-flat spare tire tray. I mean, if the car could had 20,000 miles on it, maybe I'd understand but CarMax needs to do a much better job of presenting a car to a potential buyer.
The seats are snug, but like everyone says, they are very comfortable with good lumbar support. My wife has wide hips so she didn't fit as easily into the passenger seat but she said it wasn't uncomfortable. Upon startup, it seemed the exhaust was pretty loud, so much so I had to check under the car to see if any modification had been done. After a few minutes at idle, the exhaust quieted down. Is this normal? Is the exhaust louder at cold startup?
Anyway, onto the test drive, CarMax let my wife and I take the car out without a salesperson. With 1,100 miles on the engine, I didn't feel bad revving it up to redline to see much how much power was available throughout the RPM range. Note, one of my cars is a 2002 Honda S2000, that I've owned since it was new. So I was curious how the new FK8 compares to my F20C. The Type R didn't disappoint in the power department, it pulls really strong in the midrange and with much more authority than my S2000. Power did feel like it fell off a bit between 6,000 RPM to the 7,000 RPM redline. The S2000 continues to pull all the way to the rev limiter, even though power falls off a bit, it's not as noticeable.
The turbo whoosh is way cool, I've not driven many turbo charged cars and that's always a cool sound to hear. Also, the engine and exhaust note are much louder than I expected overall.
Handling was excellent, the Type R doesn't hesitate to change direction, steering is sharp and immediate. The three drive modes were nice, being able to switch from Comfort to Sport to R mode was a nice touch, just flick the damper control up or down. It's nice not having to go through a touch screen menu to make those selections. Also, no hint of torque steer whatsoever, that's just so cool in a FWD car!
Shifting was Honda smooth. No gear crunches, no notchiness in the transmission, the clutch was light, I didn't notice any problems with the clutch delay valve and rev matching worked like a charm. No disappointments there at all. It just drove like a Honda should, but with much more mid-range punch than I'd expect from any other Honda.
Okay, those are the high points, the car drove great and once it was rolling you can just feed in the power or just put the pedal the floor and feel the turbo force feeding the engine, extracting loads of power from all two liters. However, from a standing start or even a slight roll, or if you try for too much power too soon, the tires are totally overwhelmed and there's no traction. I can see why the 0-60 time isn't better than it is, the tires just can't get any grip, the front wheels just spin, and spin, and spin. Unfortunately, that's the big let down of probably every FWD car with any significant amount of torque. You try to launch the car with even half throttle, weight transfers to the back, and the front end gets light, and the wheels just can't do a good of a job propelling the car forward.
Honda has done an excellent job with upgrading the Civic platform from just an everyday commuter to a fun to drive car that you love to drive everyday. Just don't expect too much from a FWD platform. I'm sure the car is great to drive at the track, where you've got momentum helping the front wheels both steer the car and pull the car through the turns, stable and safe, no chance of throttle induced oversteer or upsetting the chassis and loosing traction on the back end of the car. I'm sure the CTR would be faster around a race course than my S2000, but there is something to be said for the feel of a RWD car.
I've got my S2000 for sale, after 15 years of driving it, it is just starting to feel like it's time for a change. Before the test drive, I thought the CTR was "the one", but after the test drive, I'm just not so sure.
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) Maybe I should own some good old American V8 Muscle just once in my life.
